Conventional optical disc data storage technologies record data in a data medium (such as a compact disc) by creating an array of physical features, such as pits or dye variations, with a writing laser beam directed to the surface of the data medium in a controlled manner. To extract the recorded data, a reading laser beam is directed to the physical features, and optical variations between pits or dyes and a reference, such as a flat un-pitted surface or a different dye color, are detected with a photodiode. For conventional optical discs, the amount of the data that can be stored is limited by the size of the read and write beams. In view of the ever-increasing amounts of data that are generated and stored, improvements in optical-based storage media that permit higher density storage devices are desirable.